For these questions, the magic number is three.

As soon as you see three consecutive items separated by commas, you know your job is matching each item's part of speech.

This idea is intuitive, as you would probably never say “I like cars, trucks and going on motorcycles.” You would instead say “I like cars (noun), trucks (noun) and motorcycles (noun).”

Just as you would say, "I want a hamburger (noun), fries (noun), and a soda (noun)" You would not say "I want eating (verb) a hamburger, fries (noun), and having (verb) a soda."

SAMPLE PRACTICE QUESTION FOR COMMA SERIES WITH NOUNS

        Boutros-Boutros Ghali, during his time at the United
                                                    (A)            (B)
        Nations, became known for relief campaigns,
                                            (C)
        humanitarian missions, and repeating his name. No Error
                                                              (D)                           (E)

When you realize that the question presents three items separated by commas, look back to find the first item in the series that is not underlined. Here, you find “campaigns” (noun) and then “missions” (noun).

This fact means that the third item should also be a noun. Choice (D) incorrectly contains a verb (“repeating”) and should be “repetition [of]” (noun).

SAT Writing: Comma Series with Nouns

Lesson Includes:

—Explanation of Comma Series with Nouns

—Sample Practice Questions

—Practice Questions

SAT Math

SAT Reading

SAT Writing

SAT Vocabulary

COMMA SERIES WITH NOUNS REVIEW QUIZ

 

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